CUSD’s nationwide attention comes amid a contentious election season, with four seats on the district’s ideologically divided board of supervisors up for election.
Capistrano Unified School District (CUSD) hit the national spotlight after a report found at least five student deaths caused by counterfeit pills laced with fentanyl plagued one of its premier high schools since 2020.
Fentanyl emerged as a major cause of death for teenagers aged 14 to 18 across the country. The drug, mainly produced in Mexico with chemicals purchased from China, has been devastating US communities under the Biden Administration’s open-border policies — and Orange County has become a hotspot for teen deaths.
“These aren’t addicts that are dying from fentanyl,” Mike Darnold, a former police officer in Orange County, told The Guardian. “These are kids that are dying because they tried one thing one time.”
Darnold, 80, supports student leaders in coordinating events at Dana Point High School’s SOS club, short for the city-sponsored Save Our Students club, which provides teenagers with chances to socialize and have fun without the involvement of alcohol or drugs.
“Fentanyl is coming over the border by the ton, and our kids are taking it,” Darnold said. “But the problem isn’t Mexico. It isn’t even the fentanyl. The problem is we’ve got a whole bunch of people in America who are taking a lot of drugs. People take drugs because they want to change the way they feel.”
“What we’re doing is going all out,” he added. “We’re trying to reach every segment of our population on campus with education and prevention resources. I think everybody needs to do as much as Dana Hills High School.”
In 2023, there were 112,000 drug overdose deaths, with 84% of teen deaths linked to fentanyl. California saw a 7.7% increase in overdose deaths from the previous year. By October, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed “‘Melanie’s Law,” which mandated schools have prevention and response plans for fentanyl overdoses,
Many districts now stock naloxone, known as Narcan, a nasal spray that rapidly reverses an opioid overdose.
Key CUSD staff members received training in administering this medication in the event of an overdose incident.
“This proactive approach aims to prioritize the safety and well-being of all students and staff and addresses potential drug-related emergencies effectively,” the district reportedly said in a required response to the 2023 Orange County Grand Jury report about fentanyl.
CUSD’s nationwide attention comes amid a contentious election season, with four seats on the district’s ideologically divided board of supervisors up for election. The outcome could drastically change the left-leaning board that made headlines in recent years for voting to remove a former superintendent, deny charter school requests, and reject a policy that would require schools to alert parents if their child is transgender or experiencing mental health issues.
